Jul 6
Watch: How a Wyoming Equality Group Laughed Along with a Gay Joke - and Made It Their Own
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Humor can bring people together, and a restaurant in Cheyenne, Wyoming led the way with a gay joke that an equality organization picked up on.
"The 'Drive Thru' letter-board sign at Espi's Restaurant at 904 W. Pershing Blvd. in Cheyenne reads, 'What Does The Gay Cowboy Say To His Horse'," reported Wyoming newspaper the Cowboy State Daily.
The answer to the gag? "Haaay".
It's silly and inoffensive – and Wyoming Equality decided to play along when the news outlet sent the equality group a photo of the sign and asked what they thought of it.
"What's the funniest PG-rated gay joke you've ever heard?" Wyoming Equality posted at Facebook, along with the photo of the restaurant's sign.
The invitation to share a laugh drew a number of responses. One jokester jumped in with, "What do you call a drunk gay guy at a bar? An Uber, dude shouldn't be driving himself home after that many drinks."
Another joined in on the fun with, "My hometown is so small, the only way to get dates as a gay man, is from the calendar."
A third cracked, "What do you call a line of people at a gay bar? An LGBT-que," while still another response offered, "Why did the non-binary prospector buy land in California? Because there's gold in them/their hills."
That last was contributed by Wyoming Equality's own Sara Burlingame, who, the Cowboy State Daily shared, called the restaurant's joke "silly and campy". The newspaper added that, as Burlingame sees it, the joke "doesn't punch down and seems pretty wholesome".
"Not all joke-fueling stereotypes play out, she said," the news item relayed. "But silly and campy aren't crimes," Burlingame noted, "and we're pretty proud of all the joyful resistance we've spun out of a little silliness, a lot of camp."
Todd Espinoza, the eatery's owner, told Cowboy State Daily that his jokes are "nothing political" and "nothing against anybody," and said that the gags are generally well-received – even when they get a little risqué, as in this jest he once posted: "Chicken gets fired ... Chicken is broke ... Chicken strips $7.50."
Watch the news clip below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
